Fresh rains hit Odisha, leaves 2.8mn people at risk

Fresh rains compounded the woes of northern Odisha’s flood-hit residents on Saturday, though water receded in several rivers that had burst their banks.

The deluge has put over 2.8 million people in the state at risk and destroyed crops on 260,000 hectares of land. At least 38 people have been killed so far.

Sabitri Swain, from Ratanpur village in Kendrapara district, said she spends the night in a makeshift plastic tent erected on the roof of her house. “We have been living like this for the past seven days. Life is miserable. We have hired six polythene sheets from an agency by paying Rs 300 a day to protect our families,” she told HT.

In nearby Dasamanakula village, about 90 families have put up their tents on high ground surrounded by floodwater. “The administration did not provide polythene sheets. We had to cover the tents with plastic bags. We will stay here for the next 15 days, till our thatched houses are dry,” said local resident Nira Mallick.

Over 260,000 people have been hit by the floods in Kendrapara. In at least 20 villages, thousands like Swain and Mallick remain stranded, cut off from mainland. The administration said that though the situation is improving, it will take at least three days for the floodwaters to recede because of Sunday’s high tide.

Families evacuated in HPShimla: At least 15 families were evacuated from two villages in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district on Saturday after landslides, following rains sub-divisional magistrate Balbir Thakur said.

The families have also been compensated with Rs 5,000 each along with rations, he added.